Sukta 180
Sukta 10.180
Indra
This brief Indra hymn invokes the much-called hero to overpower enemies and to “bring wealth by the right hand,” i.e., by auspicious, legitimate power. Indra is pictured as a fearsome mountain-roaming beast who sharpens his weapons, scatters hostile forces, and opens a wide, safe realm in which the gods (and the worshipper’s higher powers) can act.
Mantras
Mantra 1
प्र ससाहिषे पुरुहूत शत्रूञ्ज्येष्ठस्ते शुष्म इह रातिरस्तु । इन्द्रा भर दक्षिणेना वसूनि पतिः सिन्धूनामसि रेवतीनाम् ॥
You prevail mightily, O much-invoked, over the adversaries; eldest is your force—let your giving be here. O Indra, bring by the right-handed power the riches; you are lord of the flowing streams of plenty.
Mantra 2
मृगो न भीमः कुचरो गिरिष्ठाः परावत आ जगन्था परस्याः । सृकं संशाय पविमिन्द्र तिग्मं वि शत्रून्ताळ्हि वि मृधो नुदस्व ॥
Like a dread wild beast roaming the heights, you have come from the farthest distance. Sharpen the jaw and the keen edge, O Indra; strike apart the enemies, drive away the assaults.
Mantra 3
इन्द्र क्षत्रमभि वाममोजोऽजायथा वृषभ चर्षणीनाम् । अपानुदो जनममित्रयन्तमुरुं देवेभ्यो अकृणोरु लोकम् ॥
O Indra, thou wast born into the beloved force of sovereign power, O Bull of the peoples. Thou drivest away the hostile-moving human impulses and hast made for the gods a wide field of being, a spacious world for the luminous powers to act within us.
Frequently Asked Questions
It asks Indra to defeat enemies and assaults, to bring prosperity through “right-handed” (auspicious, rightful) power, and to establish a wide, safe space for divine order.
The image emphasizes Indra’s fearsome, untamed strength and his ability to come from far away and strike decisively against threats.
It means creating a broad, secure field—outerly as protection and order in life, and innerly as mental-spiritual space where higher qualities can function freely.